VOCABULARY DEVELOPMENT
FOR
LONG TERM
ENGLISH LEARNERS
Mary Lou McCloskey
2012
Lydia Stack
Handouts: www.mlmcc.com
TESOL
Philadelphia PA
1
Goals
 Focus on vocabulary development for
long-term English Learners
 Background on vocabulary development
 Key effective strategies
 Experience using the strategies
 Discussion
2
Principles for working with longterm English Learners
 Start where learners are
 Build on what they know
 Make the classroom experience
comprehensible
 Make the classroom experience
meaningful and motivational
3
Best Practices
 Interest in and concern for individuals
 Awareness of differences in background and
proficiency
 Awareness that language and content are
integrated
 Awareness of the need to frequently check
comprehension
 Awareness of the value of choice
independent reading
4
Vocabulary Essentials Outline:
A. Knowledge about vocabulary:
 What is vocabulary?
 What does it mean to know a word?
 What words should we learn?
B. 6 elements of a successful vocabulary
program
D. 6 Effective vocabulary teaching practices and
strategies
5
A. KNOWLEDGE ABOUT
VOCABULARY:
WHAT IS VOCABULARY?
6
Words (General Service List)
1 69975
2 39175
3 36432
4 28872
5 26800
6 26190
7 21338
8 20033
9 12458
10 11247
the
be
of
and
a
to
in
he
have
it
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
10790
9495
8555
8516
7289
7254
6976
6742
6164
5377
that
for
they
I
with
as
not
on
she
at
7
Word families
BLACK
 blacker
 blackest
 blackly
 blacken
 blackness
 blacks
 blackish
HOPE
 hoped
 hopeful
 hopeless
 hopelessness
 hopes
 hoping
8
Idioms
back seat driver
back to basics
back to square 1
baker's dozen
bad hair day
ball and chain
big apple
blind leading the blind
blue moon
blue sky
break a leg
brownie points
http://www.idiomsite.com/
9
Phrasal verbs
call off
call on
calm down
catch on
catch up (with)
check in (to)
check off
check out (of)
check out
cheer up
chew out
chicken out
chip in
clam up
come across
come down with
come to
http://www.eslcafe.com/pv/pv-list.html
10
What does it mean
to learn a word?
 Multiple meanings
mixing bowl, go bowling, bowled over, superbowl
 Multiple forms
cut, cuts, cutting, undercut, haircut, shortcut
 Collocations
(give/make) a suggestion (take/make) a telephone call
(do/make) an attempt (win/beat) a match
 Grammatical patterns an apple, some flour
 Constraints on use (register)
11
Multiple meanings. Multiple forms, and
Collocations of Run
I hate it when my nose runs, because I
always run out of cold medicine and I have to
run out for more. Plus I run the risk of catching
pneumonia and I feel too run-down to go for
my daily run. One time I ran to the pharmacy
in my hybrid (you know it runs on both
gasoline and electricity -- and it really runs like
a charm!). I also needed to run by the office to
run off some copies. Anyway, it was raining so
hard the rain was running off the roof so my
jacket got all wet in the rain and the colors
12
Multiple meanings. Multiple forms, and
Collocations of Run
Then I tripped on the wet sidewalk (I really
think clumsiness runs in my family) and got a
run in my stocking and had to change it so I was
running late and then I discovered I’d run low on
gas. I was so nervous I ran a red light and ran
right into a Lincoln Navigator. The guy I ran into
was that baseball player who scored a winning
home run for the Braves last Saturday. When I
told my kids, they were so impressed that I was
running around with a celebrity -- even if what I
really did was run across – or was it run into him.
But I do run on…
13
What words need
to be learned?
 Frequent words
where
much
well
people
just
because
 Academic words
should
down
own
analyze context define economy formula
require similar source
 Essential words for topic/content
biosphere photosynthesis decomposer
nitrogen fixation transpiration food web
14
HOW MANY WORDS DO
OUR STUDENTS NEED TO
LEARN?
15
Estimates about the number of words
a learner needs to know
 Webster’s 3rd has about 54,000 word




families (250.000 words!).
A native speaker knows about 4000-5000
word families at the start of school at age 5
Native speakers add about 1200 word
families a year.
A high school graduate knows about
11,000 word families; university graduate
knows at least 20,000 word families.
Can we possibly teach all these words?
16
NO! We must:
 Choose important words to teach
directly and thoroughly.
 Help learners to develop their skills in
solving words on their own.
 Make sure students are widely and
richly exposed to words through
 instructional conversations,
 read aloud, and
 free choice reading.
17
Words
1000
2000
Knowing High3000
frequency
4000
words can
get learners 5000
a long way
6000
15,851
Text coverage
72.0%
79.7%
84%
86.8%
88.7%
89.9%
97.8%
18
West List:
General Service List of
2000 Word Families
Word 300: CARE
 cared
 careful
 carefully
 careless
 cares
 caring
 carelessly
19
Estimating vocabulary
 Paul Nations levels tests – based on the
general service list:
20
http://www.victoria.ac.nz/lals/resources/
academicwordlist/default.aspx
 570 word families
 Not on the first 2000 list
 Words used frequently across a
variety of academic content
areas (arts, commerce, law and
science)
21
Jim Burke’s Academic Word List
22
High-Frequency Academic Words
 Many “academic words” are high-
frequency words used in a different
sense, e.g.
 table
 average
 square
 column
23
Portable Words
 May be AWL words like symptom or
prevalence
 May also be useful phrases, like In my
opinion…, I agree that…, or “According to…”
 May be language that helps studens
participate in the classroom and get help, like
Could you please say that again? I have a
question about…
24








Selecting Vocabulary: Places
to start
First 100, 500, 1000 words
Words, phrases and patterns for
instructions and management
Words for age-level content
Words to teach reading patterns
Words for content learners read
Words to talk about content
Words to meet specifications and
standards
Words learners want/need to know
25
Sentence Frames
 When we ask a question, we should be sure
we’ve provided the language needed to
answer it. Often useful to provide a frame for
the answer, expecially if you’re looking for a
sentence.
 What is something that is about 1 meter
long?
 __________is about 1 meter high.
 The distance from ______________ to
_______________is about one meter.
26
Activity: Sentence Frame
 Think of a type of question you
frequently ask in your class.
 Write a sentence frame that
supports learners in answering
that question.
27
B. Elements of a successful
vocabulary program? We must:
1. Expand exposure through speaking,
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
listening, writing and choice
reading
Develop word awareness
Teach important words directly
Analyze and explore words
Build learner control
Practice and apply new words
28
What doesn’t work for long-term
ELLs?





Guessing words from context
Teaching vocabulary in semantic sets
Teaching too much at a time
Teaching too much too soon
Exposure only, without opportunities
to use and apply the language learned
29
Teaching Lexical Sets:
The Metric System

30
Teaching Meaningful Concepts
 How long is a meter? What might be a
meter long?
 What if we want to measure
something small, like a paper clip?
How many meters long is a paper
clip? …A grain of salt? …An atom?...
31
How do we remember words?
What we learn from memory research:
•
Learners must notice words
•
They must process words deeply
•
They must have repeated, spaced
retrieval of the words
32
How is vocabulary
best learned?
In active, interactive ways:
 Teach important words directly and
interactively
 Analyze and explore words
 Build learner control
 Expand exposure
33
Learners Need…
 Comprehensible input (oral and written
 Connection to their own experience
 Repetition, in context, with variation
 Vocabulary in meaningful, purposeful,
relevant context – like stories, games,
and activities, and in the context of
content learning
 Focused attention on vocabulary
 Fluency development
34
Practices for Total Engagement
 Wait time
 Fairness Can
 Slates
 Numbered Heads
35
Vocabulary Development Practices
and Activities
 Teaching Vocabulary  Word Wall
Directly
 Word Squares
 Build Word
 Sentence
Awareness
 Vocabulary Journals
 Semantic Mapping
Machine
 Word Sort
 Conga Line
 I have, who has?
36
Teaching Vocabulary Directly:
“Rich” Vocabulary
Instruction (Beck 2003)
 contextualizing each




target word
providing student friendly
explanations
giving many examples
asking learners to provide
their own examples
posting & using the target
words
37
Building Word Awareness:
Names
 What is your name?
 What does it mean?
 Where does the word come from?
 Why are you named that?
 What are the sounds in your name?
 Are there other words like your name?
 Is anyone else’s name in the room like your name?
 How do you feel when someone says your name
wrong?
38
Sample Vocabulary Journal Entry
Word
My
definition
How used in
reading
My sentence/
pictures
drowsy
sleepy
He felt drowsy after the When I stay up
meal.
late, I am drowsy
in the morning
39
clay
bark
Semantic
Mapping
First
Ts’ai
Lun
from
China
Who
Materials
Record
Ideas
Why
Important
Paper
drawing
To
communicate
writing
Uses
wrapping
things
40
WORD WALL
41
Word Square
42
Sentence Machine
 In groups, learners




develop questions in
response to a text.
Groups send a representative to be in the
“sentence machine.”
Learners ask questions of the machine.
The machine answers in sentences, with each
person providing one word in turn.
Teacher and peers mediate the formation of
sentences.
43
Word Sort
proposition
endure
44
Conga Line
 Learners prepare (and teacher confirms)





vocabulary cards with words and definitions.
They stand in two lines, each facing a partner.
Partners teach each other their words.
At a signal from the teacher, partners
exchange lines.
One line moves one person forward, with the
first person going to the end.
The new pair repeats the activity.
45
I have / who has?
 Create review set of questions and answers. (See





example.)
Pass out all the cards.
Have learnersdiscuss/look up the terms they have to
make sure they understand them.
Play the game by having the first person ask who
has…
Continue play till all cards are matched.
Exchange cards and play again, trying for a faster
time.
46
3 – 2 – 1 Summary
3 Practices/Activities for developing
vocabulary that you found valuable
2 Principles for developing language that you
want to remember
1
Burning question that still remains
47
Thank you!
ONLINE RESOURCES
& LINKS:
WWW.MLMCC.COM
48
ELEMENT 1:
DEVELOP WORD
AWARENESS
49
Attending to
vocabulary – directing
learners’ attention to
what is important.
Providing:
 Word Awareness
 Depth of processing
 Elaboration with repeated,
spaced retrieval
50
Names
 What is your name?
 What does it mean?
 Where does the word come from?
 Why are you named that?
 Are there other words like your name?
 Is anyone else’s name in the room like your
name?
51
“Rich” Vocabulary
Instruction (Beck 2003)
 contextualizing each




target word
providing student friendly
explanations
giving many examples
asking learners to provide
their own examples
posting & using the target
words
53
Beginners: Using Predictable
Books, Chants, and Rhymes







Model
Demonstrate
Include actions/hands-on features
Have learners practice
Revisit often
Use vocabulary for teaching skills
Encourage learners to improvise
54
Activity: Food and Drink Chant
Hana likes rice
Kwan likes beets
Mi Cha likes ice cream
We all like sweets!
Shin likes lemon
Hyo likes tea,
Yong Sun likes milk
They all like me!
I like rice
I like beets
I like ice cream
We all like sweets!
I like lemon
I like tea
I like my friends and
My friends like me!
55
Word Webs/Semantic Maps
 Provide access to higher level
thinking and content
structures/schema
 Focus attention on key words,
relationships, and ideas.
 Examine and categorize parts of
the word, examples, meanings,
and importance
56
clay
bark
Web
First
Ts’ai
Lun
from
China
Who
Materials
Record
Ideas
Why
Important
Paper
drawing
To
communicate
writing
Uses
wrapping
things
57
ELEMENT 2:
TEACH IMPORTANT
WORDS DIRECTLY
58
C. Six Steps for Direct Teaching
of Vocabulary
1. Explain the word.
2. Have learners demonstrate understanding.
3. Show the written word and write the word in
vocabulary journal
4. Discuss the word
5. Reflect and refine meaning in journal
6. Apply in learning games and activities.
59
Step 1: Explain
the word
 Explain, pronounce, describe
 Show a picture if appropriate
 Use context that relates to learners
 No need to present all the meanings the first
time.
 Translate; make connections to cognates
 Learners say the word, tap out syllables…
60
Explaining the word
PREVIOUS
61
Step 2: Learners Demonstrate
Understanding
 Point to the word
 Hold up card
 Give thumbs up or thumbs down.
62
2. Demonstrating Understanding
Previous
 What day was previous to today?
 What word is previous in alphabetical
order, hammer or height?
 Why might a detective want to know
about previous events?
 Which new word does before make you
think of?
63
2. Demonstrating Understanding
Previous
 Would you prefer to hire a teacher
with previous experience?
 Would you trade for a player who hit
300 the previous year?
 Does previous mean prior or before?
 Does previous mean small?
64
Step 3: Show and write the word.
Previous
Sunday
Tuesday
Wednesday
Thursday
Friday
Saturday
1
2
3
4
5
65
Step 3. Show and Write the Word
 Learners make a picture or symbol
 Write meaning in vocabulary journal
 Use word square, word circle, semantic map,
or other graphic organizer.
66
Step 4. Discuss the word
Provide examples of the
word used in several
different contexts –
moving from familiar to new
 What do you think? Does this look like a good
site for a picnic?
 The beavers found the right site on the creek to
build a new dam.
 Sharon Creech has a really cool website.
 Seoul is the site of the Gyeongbokgung Palace
67
Step 4: Discuss the word (continued)
 Discuss forms of the word:




Hope, hopes, hopeless
Discuss parts of the word:
contra
dict
tion
(against) (speak) (noun ending)
Discuss how the word is used and not used
We make a mess, we don’t do a mess.
Learners think about the word and add
information to their vocabulary journals
68
Step 5. Reflect and refine
meaning in Journal
 Students choose important new
words and concepts they are
learning and record them
 Students learn and remember new
words in context
69
Step 5: Sample journal entry
Word
My
definition
How used in
reading
My sentence/
pictures
drowsy
sleepy
He felt drowsy after the When I stay up
meal.
late, I am drowsy
in the morning
70
WORD WALL
71
Step 6. Apply in learning games
and activities
Move from less to more demanding
Many, varied encounters with the word.
Active, interactive learning





I HAVE/WHO HAS?
WORD SORT
CONGA LINE
SENTENCE MACHINE
GROUCHO’S MAGIC
BIRD
72
Sentence Machine
73
ELEMENT 3:
ANALYZE
AND
EXPLORE
WORDS
74
WORD FAMILIES
75
Root Words
 Students learn high-frequency
roots from the Latin or Greek
root list
 Students collect words with
the roots and learn their
meanings
76
77
Activity: Match roots and meanings
CENT
foot
PED
write
eight
FRACT
throw
EQU
OCT
break
SCRIB/
SCRIBE
see
same,
even
VIS
hundred
JECT
78
Answer Key
CENT
foot
PED
write
eight
FRACT
throw
EQU
OCT
break
SCRIB/
SCRIBE
see
same,
even
VIS
hundred
JECT
79
Explore how words are used
 Strong coffee, not powerful coffee
 A powerful computer, not a strong
computer.
 Hello! to the director or visitor.
 Hi! to your friends.
80
Prefixes lesson, Journeys, Grade 2
81
WORD
WALL
82
Using the Word Wall
 Use words children have learned
 Interact frequently with the wall
 Organize and re-organize words
 Perform word sorts – by word
beginning, word ending,
rhymes, meanings, type of
word, etc.
83
ELEMENT 4:
BUILD
LEARNER
CONTROL
84
Supporting learners in
taking control of their own
vocabulary learning.
 Planning and organizing learning
 Choosing words to learn
 Encouragement to expand exposure
through reading, listening, writing,
speaking beyond class
85
Individual Vocabulary Lists
 Keep a vocabulary notebook
 Select set of words to learn
 Use study activity with words throughtout
the week
 Peers assess each other at the end of the
week.
 Alternate: 3 levels of words
87
Frayer Model
Vocabulary Cards
 Help students understand concepts
and words by showing both
examples and non-examples of
words or concepts
88
Frayer Card
Definition
-a type of
vertebrate
Examples
-human
-monkey
MAMMALS
Characteristics
-warm blooded
-produce milk
Non-examples
-rooster
-fish
89
Activity: Frayer Card
 With your partner, make a
Freyer card for this word:
Prejudice
Definition
Characteristics
Examples
Non-examples
90
Groucho’s Secret Word
91
ELEMENT 5:
PRACTICE
AND APPLY
NEW WORDS
92
Word Sort
 First, target key words and phrases from a
passage
 Then have the students sort the words and
phrases into categories that make sense to
them.
 Have them tell why they have clustered
the words and phrases as they did.
 Next, have them group the words/phrases
into partner pairs and make a statement
that explains the connection.
94
WORD SORTS
-ee words -ea words -y words
that
that say
Say ee
ee
-e words
that say
ee
tree
bee
see
fee
feed
weed
be
me
he
pea
sea
flea
lead
happy
baby
candy
lovely
95
Activity: Word Sort
 Work with your elbow buddy
 Sort the words on the
following slides into categories
of your choosing
 At the signal, share your list/s
with a second pair.
 Note: The words are all from Abraham
Lincoln’s “Gettysburg Address”
96
Possible categories
 Word features, e.g., roots,
endings
 Word strength
 Positive/negative words
 Synonyms/antonyms
 Parts of speech


97
Word Sort
proposition
endure
98
Word Sort: Parts of Speech
devotion
dedicate
proposition
consecrate
score
hallow
perish
by the people
endure
of the people
detract
for the people
conceived
in vain
engaged
add
nobly
99
Word Sort:
Synonyms & Antonyms
perish
endure
nobly
in vain
detract
add
dedicate
consecrate
100
Write Sentences
combining words in a category
 The world will not endure but will
perish if we don’t stop pollution.
 Because of his devotion he made a
proposition that they get engaged.
101
ELEMENT 6:
EXPAND
EXPOSURE
102
Read Aloud
 Builds listening and comprehension skills
 Increases vocabulary foundation
 Improves memory and language skills
 Provides information about the world around
them.
 Develops learners’ interests, imagination,
creativity
103
Free Voluntary
Reading
 Improves reading, writing,
spelling, vocabulary for all ages
 Leads to more reading
 Is enjoyed by students who participate
 Decreases writing apprehension
 Is encouraged by access to books
 Often starts with narrow reading, then
expands
Krashen, 2004. The Power of Reading.
104
D.
VOCABULARY
ACTIVITIES
105
Pair-Share: Which strategies demonstrate?
• notice words and word qualities
• process words deeply
• repeated, spaced retrieval of the words
 Predictable books &





chants
Word wall
Word families
Root words
Frayer model
Personal word journal
 Word web
 Word sort
 Rich vocabulary learning
 Direct teaching with 6
steps
 Read aloud & discussion
 Free voluntary reading
106
www.mlmcc.com
mlmcc@mindspring.com
THANK YOU!
107
References
 Allen, J. (2007). Inside words: Tools for teaching academic








vocabulary, grades 4-12. Portland, ME: Stenhouse.
Cobb, T. The compleat lexical tutor. http://132.208.224.131/
www.lextutor.ca
Cobb, T. Text Concordancer.
http://www.lextutor.ca/concordancers/
Coxhead, A. The Academic Word List.
http://www.vuw.ac.nz/lals/research/awl/
Folse, K. (2004). Vocabulary myths: Applying second language
research to classroom teaching. Ann Arbor, MI: University of
Michigan Press.
IdiomSite. Part of the Bored.com network.
http://www.idiomsite.com/
Nation, I.S.P. (Ed.) (1994). New ways in teaching Vocabulary.
Alexandria, VA: TESOL.
Nation, I.S.P. (2001). Learning vocabulary in another language.
Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.
Phrasal Verb List: http://www.eslcafe.com/pv/pv-list.html
108
 Jim Burke’s Academic Word List:
http://www.englishcompanion.com/pdfDocs/
academicvocab.pdf
109